Behold, therefore, our model

June 20th
“Let us love Jesus above all, let us love Mary as our mother; but then, how could we keep from loving Joseph, who was so intimately united to both Jesus and Mary? And how can we honor him better than by imitating his virtues? Now, what else did he do in all his life but contemplate, study, and adore Jesus, even in the midst of his daily labors? Behold, therefore, our model.”
-St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

Direct conversation with Christ

June 19th
“In human life, Joseph was Jesus’ teacher in their daily contact, full of refined affection, glad to deny himself to take better care of Jesus. Isn’t that reason enough for us to consider this just man, this holy patriarch, in whom the faith of the Old Covenant comes to full fruition, as a master of interior life?
Interior life is nothing but continual and direct conversation with Christ, so as to become one with him. And Joseph can tell us many things about Jesus. Therefore, never neglect devotion to him—Ite ad Ioseph: ‘Go to Joseph’—as Christian tradition puts it in the words of the Old Testament (Gen 41:55).”
-St. Josemaría Escriva

Her love for St. Joseph

June 18th
“In our time Our Lady has helped us comprehend and love her dear and chaste husband, St. Joseph. She has told us of the mystery surrounding him and of his greatness. She has let us know something of her love for St. Joseph, that most lovable saint who for years held the Word made flesh in his arms.”
-Blessed Gabriele Allegra

Why the Polyvagal Theory is so Controversial

SMJ: “My therapist recently suggested that he’d like to employ a theoretical therapy based on the polyvagal theory. However, when I looked it up online, a lot of the practitioners were very New Agey and Wikipedia called it ‘unproven’. Is this something I should get involved in?”

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Help! My Mom is a Medium!

KB writes: “My friend’s mother is a spiritist medium. The mom wants to visit (stay for a while) but my friend is afraid of having her mom over because she knows her mother is a medium and she (my friend) has children at home she wants to protect from any ‘spirits’ her mother has attached to her. My friend made a mistake by allowing her mom to babysit her newborn then learned that the mom ‘gave’ the baby some spirit gift. How can my friend remove anything given by the misguided grandma?

“How can she honor her mother (who will at some point perhaps need to live with her daughter as she ages), yet protect herself and her family?   The daughter is a practicing Catholic.”

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